There are many, many things I do not like about Republicans running for national office, especially the highest two offices in the land. In general, they’re a smarmy, smug, hypocritical, lying, and outright evil bunch. It should probably say something that as politically, morally, and intellectually deficient as I find John McCain and Sarah Palin to be, they're probably the second least annoying of the Republican Presidential tickets I've seen in my lifetime (Bob Dole and Jack Kemp were slightly less insipid). Yet, like every other Republican jack-ass that’s aspired to be or has been the president or vice-president, McCain and Palin position themselves as the “OUTSIDERS,” untouched and unspoiled by the “Washington Elite.”
It’s complete Bush League bullshit. And it is always untrue. There are NO outsiders that get elected to anything, anywhere in this country, on any level of politics, be it national, statewide, or local. I’ve known and been friends with a few elected officials in my life, even some Republicans, and not one was an “outsider.” They were deeply involved in the town, city, or region where they were running for office, and were well connected to people and organization all over the state. They were ambitious, intelligent folks who were well-aware of how things worked inside and outside their region. And I’m not talking about having their hands in the pockets of every developer that came along: they knew how to work the political system in order to best serve their communities in their way they knew how.
Which is why I feel strangling someone every time I hear some Republican Presidential candidate glibly spew his or her outsider credentials. It’s an outright lie. There is no way to get elected to the U.S. Senate, much less serve for 26 years, and still be a MAVERICK. And there’s certainly no way to run for President, much less earn the votes to be at the top of ticket. What, you think the RNC would get behind someone who’s served almost three decades as a Senator and been an outsider their entire career? That would mean they literally accomplished zilch during their time in office, being a complete and total outsider and all. And MCain assures as all of his long and distinguished record of service as a Senator. Sorry Abe (as in Simpson), you can’t have it both ways.
And Governor Sarah Palin can go shit in a hat with her continued her nonsense. George W. Bush spent his 2000 campaign railing that while Al Gore was “for and of Washington,” while he, as a Governor, had no meaningful political connection to the city. This is from a guy whose father was also President of the United States. Let me reiterate you do not get elected to be Governor of any state without being well-connected to Washington D.C. And that includes Alaska. I guarantee you that even when Palin was elected to be the mayor of Moose Fuck, Alaska, population 9,000, she was well-connected to everyone who was anyone in that state. So miss me with all this outsider bullshit.
I’ve also known a few, real, genuine outsiders that have run for elected office, and all, save one, were completely worthless as candidates. Just about all were clueless as to how things really worked in their cities or communities, and lacked basic understanding of what it meant to be a council-person, mayor, representative or whatever. I have serious suspicions that one of these "outsiders" was actually mentally challenged. Not one was fit to hold an elected office. And the voters recognized this in every instance. Why people continue to fall for the okey-doke on the national level is beyond my understanding. But what I do understand is a “political outsider” is a synonym for “amateur.”
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